Paper Chase - Somerset Photo Paper - Page 4

Monochrome Performance

This paper is highlighted by the manufacturers as being capable of producing ‘velvety’ blacks (whatever they are!). We were particularly interested in the performance making mono prints. With good metamerism values in the greys and a good, but not outstanding, Dmax, this paper will attract a following amongst the monochrome fraternity, who like matte prints. The neutrality of the greys on a profiled print was superb. Once the errors in the lightness component had been factored out, the average error along the grey scale was 0.6 LabΔE/0.8 ΔE2000, ie insignificant! The error in the lightness channel is due entirely to the inability of this matte paper to get down to a very low density; this is typical and in no way unusual. There was no evidence of density differences in the blocks of near solid black that can plague some media and the surface was relatively robust. The chalkiness we have observed in some matte papers was not evident.

Colour Performance

We made a bespoke profile using Velvet Fine Art as the media setting, 2880 as the resolution and both High Speed and Black Point Compensation turned on. As the base white is so neutral, the skin tones were rendered with tremendous colour accuracy. The average error across the Macbeth Chart was just on 3 which is a favourable result compared with the overall average of 3.3 ΔE2000. The greys were mapped to near-perfect neutral as we would expect.

The Granger Chart was very smooth with no sign of posterisation or blocking. The actual gamut volume measured at 504,000, about 7% down on the typical values we measure on the same test-bed, using other fine art materials. The loss of gamut was evenly spread across the spectrum. The differences between this material and similar competitor material was very slight, impossible to discern even with sid-by-side comparisons.

Cuthbert – from the Land of the Prince Bishops 635–687AD

When we last reviewed a Somerset product we made the point that the St Cuthberts Mill has a superb marketing advantage from its name. Our aim at Professional Imagemaker is to develop well-rounded and educated photographers, so for our readers (and in particular those from overseas) here is a potted history of the venerable saint.

Cuthbert was the Bishop of Lindisfarne and his embalmed body was held on the island by the monks. In the face of the invading Danes in 875, the monks fled the island, taking Cuthbert’s remains with them. For seven years they wandered around Cumberland, Galloway and Northumberland. On their travels, the monks had the Lindisfarne Gospels with them, at one stage managing to lose them over the side of a boat into the Irish sea off Whithern. They survived that with only minor stains. The famous gospels, held in London (to the annoyance of the scholars at Durham), were compiled by the monk, Eadfrith, in honour of Cuthbert.

The magnificent cathedral at Durham was built in built in 995 to hold the relics of St Cuthbert. Cuthbert’s, still perfectly preserved, body was laid to rest there in 1104. The perfect preservation of the body was considered miraculous and increased the veneration of the saint.

The cathedral itself has something of a media history, right through to the present day. In 1137, a tightrope walker, brought in to entertain the monks by walking across a rope stretched across a courtyard, fell to his death. Harry Potter was filmed in the Theologian’s Library at Durham – indeed the steps in the film are the same ones as those used by Miss McNamee during her studies at Durham (which is why your editor is so up to speed on the place!). The cathedral itself became Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a computer-generated spire on top of the tower. The stone table just outside the main door was used as Aslan’s table in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and was used as a tripod for the image of family McNamee and students shown below.

So there you have it! Our short history lesson is complete, and now you know why St Cuthbert’s Mill, in the cathedral city of Wells, is such an iconic name for matters to do with reproduction, art and manuscripts.

Real prints

We always attempt to make real prints with test materials when sufficient sample sheets are available. This is actually more searching than test charts, a small swatch that is ‘off colour’ will measure as such, but nothing shows it up as much as a large print, with larger areas of tone.

The image of the butterfly (above) printed impeccably, with all the fine detail of the wing scales showing really well and the print matching the screen. The shot of model Laura (below) from the skin smoothing article in this issue was much trickier. The application of a Nik Midnight Filter had over-darkened the tones of the rocks such that they blocked to dense black without any discernable detail. It was necessary to open the shadows up in Photoshop to make them print successfully.

The Epson 3800, test-bed printer in action.

The average data from the colour audit were very good.

The Granger Chart was very smooth.

Overall

While Somerset Velvet Enhanced has a good and faithful following in both the UK and the USA, it has always suffered from a slightly inferior Dmax to its competitors. Somerset Photo addresses that issue, with a significant improvement in Dmax and an expansion of the gamut. It is a media that should generate a following from the fine art enthusiasts who are looking for a little more punch in their reproductions and for both fine art and general photographers. The low OBAs and neutrality will find favour with the monochrome enthusiasts. The branding carries the term ‘satin’ which should not be confused with the satin offerings from other suppliers (typified by Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin, Bright White Satin, White Etching Satin and Permajet’s Textured Art Silk); it is not the same type at all.

Somerset Photo range available:
Sheets in A4, A3+ and A2, all in boxes to help protect the paper.
Rolls of 10 metre in 17” (432mm), 24” (610mm), 44”
(1118mm) and 60” (1524mm)
Available from your normal Somerset stockist.
Or for more info contact Artistpapers@inveresk.co.uk

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